Seth came up from what he estimated might be his hundredth set of push-ups that night.

“Sprint!” He and the other two selectees there that night drove into a sprint to the far wall, touched it, then sprinted back. As he did, his eyes locked with Brett sitting there, one leg crossed over the other, grinning with amusement.

“Push!” Yelled Coach John as they all returned to the starting point. Seth got down and started cranking out the push-ups. The arms race was on in full, as Seth’s body just ate up the training and spat out more endurance at a rate the others couldn’t keep up with. The other two black belts from his gym were at the point where they had to rest at the top of every rep for a second. Not Seth. In the five seconds it had taken him to get to the wall and back, his arms had flushed all traces of lactic acid from them. He felt fresh.

“Mr. Blackwell,” boomed Coach John. “I hope you know we’re here until you start struggling.”

Seth looked over to the other black belts with a look of ‘I’m sorry’, but they were too concentrated on their painful reps to see. Seth continued driving up and down with the speed of a pneumatic piston. He had already thought to pretend to struggle once, but it would take all of ten seconds for Coach John to see through that.

“Sprint!”

Seth blazed off the line to the wall again, reaching the start well before the other two. He caught Coach John’s eye, who at this point had one eyebrow plastered up to his hairline. “Very well. Everyone get your gear. Seth, mouthpiece only, you know how this works.”

Seth nodded and pulled his mouthpiece out from the small pouch in his fighting trunks and walked into the sparring ring while the others got their gloves and shin guards on. He looked them over, trying to gauge their frustration. The more frustrated they were, the more this would suck. They entered the ring a minute later, and Seth pressed his lips together. They looked more than a little pissed.

“Seth, you’re on defense. Five minute clock. Go!”

Seth held up his guard as Ethan, a dark-skinned black belt just a year younger than Seth, led in with a skipping side kick. But he was tired, and slow. Seth slapped his leg aside on a pivot, then slipped under a roundhouse from Caleb, a stockier and older black belt. Caleb was also tired. Also slow. Seth danced backwards out of their reach, keeping dominant control of the ring as best he could without the ability to attack. Seth put the corner at his back as they circled in opposite directions around him, then pivoted out and quickly moved to the opposite corner before they could attack from behind.

Caleb chased. Seth held back the urge to kick as he entered range, instead checking a low roundhouse, then shoving Caleb off before he could start swinging. That opened his side up, though, and Ethan got off a body shot with a left hook, fortunately missing the liver.

“Seth!” Shouted Coach John. “Plank, thirty seconds. Caleb. Sit on his back.”

Seth got down and tensed as Caleb’s two-hundred-pound frame settled onto the small of his back, increasing the difficulty of the plank by a considerable amount. He looked up to see Brett stifling laughter. “Hey, man,” said Seth. “I’m sorry about the sprints and push-ups.”

Caleb chuckled as Ethan walked around the ring with his hands on his head. “No worries, Seth. We all know it will be way worse at training camp.”

“Yup,” said Seth through clenched teeth. “Looking forward to the rock games.”

“Shut your whore mouth,” hissed Caleb. “They didn’t do that last year, don’t give them ideas.”

“Time! Seth, defense again. No hands this time.”

Seth blinked as he stood up, and this time, he heard a choking laugh from Brett’s direction. He shook his head and placed his hands behind his back, putting a nice, comfortable distance between himself and his two opponents.

“Go!”

Seth stuffed a kick from Ethan with a body check, bull-rushing through him to block off Caleb, then circled around the ring as they re-oriented on him. They coordinated. Both of of them came off the line with roundhouses, one low, one high, from opposite sides. Seth jumped backwards, but the low kick caught him and swept his leg wide, leaving him off balance and open. Seth threw himself into a roll to escape an incoming punch from Ethan, but as he came up, Caleb planted a front-kick square in his stomach and knocked him back into the ropes.

Seth got down into the plank as Caleb sat on his lower back again, looking at the clock. Still another hour left for tonight’s selection. Seth gritted his teeth.

***

Seth walked out of the gym and got into the passenger seat of Brett’s all-black Chevy Suburban. Brett started the car, smirking. “That looked like it sucked. But-” He looked at Seth. “You look fine.”

“Yeah,” said Seth. “I felt fine before I left the shower.”

“Honestly, dude,” said Brett as he pulled out. “That would drive me crazy. Also, glad you brought a change of clothes. We’ve got a meeting.”

“Meeting?” Asked Seth, buckling himself in as Brett took off down the street.

“With the shamans. Now’s the perfect time to negotiate a release of your friend— they’re hurting after what happened with the coven last night. Their position will be easier to sway.”

“Or they’ll feel backed into a corner.”

“Or that, but we’re not going in saying ‘give up Andrew or we kill you’. The goal here is to get both sides to duke it out and then mop up the survivors. You’re our fulcrum for that.”

“Right-” Seth’s phone rang. Local area code. “Hello?”

“Good evening, have I reached Mr. Seth Blackwell?”

Seth glanced at Brett. “Who is this?”

“Detective Joel Ortiz. I understand that you’re out of state right now due to a medical emergency, but we have a few questions about the disappearance of several students during the bear attack. You have a minute?”

“Sure.”

Brett mouthed ‘speakerphone’. Seth switched it on and the detective’s voice filled the car.

“Okay, so this is now being recorded as long as I have your consent.”

“You do.”

“Is there anyone else present?”

Brett shook his head.

“No.”

“Alright, what is your relationship to one Andrew Eldridge?”

“He’s my best friend.”

“Did you see where he ran to after the bear attacks?”

“We split up behind the school.”

He heard the detective typing a note. “And the two of you didn’t meet after that?”

“No, he wasn’t with me when I left.”

“And who was?”

Seth paused, looking to Brett, who stroked his beard.

“I’m sorry,” said Seth, “could you repeat that?”

“Who did you leave homecoming with?”

Brett mouthed ‘no one’. Seth mouthed back ‘you sure’. Brett nodded.

“Uh, no one.”

Brett pulled off the side of the road and opened up his phone, typing something on it.

“Do you know a Jessica Devin or a Claire Barnes?”

Brett held up his phone. Say you have to use the head.

Seth mouthed ‘head?’

Brett mouthed ‘bathroom’.

“Hey,” said Seth. “I really have to shit. Can I call you back in like two minutes?”

“Uh, sure. This is an office line, I’m extension four.”

“Thanks.” Seth hung up.

“Alright,” said Brett. “Don’t need the police turning this into a orgy when it’s already a threeway. Give me those two girls names and numbers, I’ll make sure they don’t say anything for now, and then I’ll pull some weight from higher down and get the police to drop the investigation. Because I’ve seen this before. There’s gonna be some cop who believes in the bogeyman, and he’s gonna run down the rabbit hole into Wonderland faster than Usain Bolt on a coke bender. Worst case, there’s multiple cops willing to dive after the white rabbit. Just keep up with your story that you never saw Andrew after you split. Here. Numbers.”

Seth put Jessica and Claire’s numbers into Brett’s phone, and Brett exited the car. Seth called back Detective Ortiz.

“Ortiz speaking.”

“This is Seth Blackwell again.”

“Hey, kid. Curry get the best of you or something?”

“Yeah,” Seth did his best to chuckle. “What was your last question?”

“I was asking if you knew one Jessica Devin or Claire Barnes.”

“Yeah, I know both of them.”

“What’s your relationship?”

“Jessica is an old friend, and Claire was my homecoming date—we also do Kyokushin together.”

“Kyo-what?”

“Karate.”

“Got it. Have you had any contact with Andrew since homecoming night?”

“No.”

“And you didn’t call the authorities?”

“It’s only Monday, and I’m out of state. We don’t talk every day.”

“But he’s your best friend.”

“So?”

“Just saying that’s a little weird, is all.”

Seth stayed silent, watching Brett through the windshield as he had his own phone conversation while leaning with his forearm on the side of the hood.

“Right. Last question, then I think we’re good. How did you manage to outrun two bears?”

“Uh, what?”

“When the security footage shows you and your friends splitting up behind the school, you proceed to do some wild parkour and then outrun two giant bears. Aren’t bears faster than people?”

“Guess I should try out for the Olympics. And if you watched, you’d see I got my back sliced open by one of them.”

“Tough kid, then.”

“Something like that.”

“Alright, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Blackwell. We’ll be in contact if we have further questions to ask. Have a good night.”

“You, too.”

The call ended. Seth got out of the car and leaned on the hood opposite Brett.

“Yeah, thanks for the understanding. We’ll handle NDA sometime soon.” He hung up. “Well, Jessica and Claire are both reasonable human beings. Seems like someone has broken their NDA though.” He stared hard at Seth.

“They saw my augment come off.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Alright, they literally saw me break a bear’s leg with a kick.”

Brett raised an eyebrow. “You know that breaking these NDAs is a federal crime, right?”

“So I can’t-”

Brett grinned. “I’m just fucking with you. Hunter slaps an NDA on anything that moves. You should be able to risk your neck and let people know about you if you want. Besides, you don’t even know what you actually are.”

“You do?”

“…no.” Brett looked up and down the road. “Alright, analysts have an idea, but it’s classified.”

“Bullshit.”

Brett shrugged. “This one really is for your own protection. And you need more observation before our hypotheses are confirmed.”

“So what, I can’t even know what the fuck Nicole was talking about when she told me I wasn’t human?” Seth felt anger now—and he hadn’t felt it since the shamans jumped him at his own house. The demon had been sleeping, but the fact that someone he had just started to view as an ally was keeping secrets he thought he deserved to know pissed him off.

“You had to have Nicole tell you that to figure out you’re not human?”

“Okay,” said Seth through gritted teeth. “No. But that doesn’t change shit. If you know what I am, if you know what’s going on with me, then you need to tell me.”

“Sorry,” said Brett. “I can’t.”

“Then I’ll just have to find out myself.”

“You don’t have the tools, or the knowledge,” said Brett. “Let Hunter take care of you for now, we’ll tell you when we’re certain about it. But that’s going to be a hot minute.”

Seth pressed his lips together and looked away. “Fine.”

“Don’t be a bitch about it,” said Brett as he got back in the car and started the engine again. Seth followed suit. “It’s part of dealing with the military. There’s need-to-know and then there’s what you don’t need to know. It saves lives to keep those two separate. What happens if you get captured and interrogated and you break? It’s minimizing the beans you can spill.”

“But this is mine to spill if I want.”

“No, Seth,” said Brett, driving off the shoulder onto the road again. “It’s not. Now I need you to get your head straight so the meeting with the shamans doesn’t turn into a firefight.”

“It is on straight.”

Brett’s voice changed. It went from his cavalier, vaguely West Coast roll to something harsher, strict. The weight of it commanded respect. “Like hell you do.” He looked Seth in the eye as they drove. “Right now, I’m here for you. I’m here because you are an official Hunter asset, like it or not, and there is a coven and a tribe threatening your ass. So you are going to sit down, shut the fuck up, and do as I say, because I’m the one who’s been doing this almost as long as you’ve been alive. So unless you spent time in a combat zone while you we’re sucking on your mom’s tit, I’ve got a strong recommendation you don’t turn this into a pissing match.”

Seth’s immediate reaction was to listen. Brett knew what he was talking about, and Seth shouldn’t have questioned him, at least not right now. He knew that. The demon inside didn’t, though. “No, fuck you,” said Seth, holding Brett’s intense glare. “I’ve been shot, hit by a semi, shot some more, had a leg blown off by one of your soldiers, maimed by bears, and fallen off cliffs since Nicole drug my ass into something I didn’t want. Bullshit you get to hold back information on why this is happening to me.”

Brett left one hand on the steering wheel and slapped the back of Seth’s head. Hard. “Get over yourself.”

Red tinged the edge of Seth’s vision. “My best friend is being held by a pack of fucking werebears, don’t you tell-”

“And I’ve lost more best friends in this business than you can fucking count,” growled Brett. “What I’m doing is to prevent you from being another dead body in this fucked-up war we’re fighting.”

“You’re not protecting me, you’re lying to me.” The red crept in more.

“Those two coincide more often that most people with so little experience are comfortable with.” Brett’s eyes narrowed, a flash of recognition on his face. “Fine. We’re doing this.” He pulled off onto the shoulder again and got out, walking forward of the car as Seth watched him. About twenty yards up, he stopped and turned holding his arms out wide. Seth got out of the car, the void in him pulsing. Brett was throwing down a challenge.

“Settle your problems with me right now,” shouted Brett. “You’re not meeting with the shamans like this.”

Seth looked down the road. They were outside of the city now, and no headlights moved in either direction of the countryside. He walked up to Brett, the red flickering around his vision.

“Swing, bitch,” growled Brett.

“I want answers.”

Brett push-kicked Seth in the stomach, knocking him back and down. “I said swing. You’ve got an issue with me, get it the fuck out right now.”

The red took over and Seth charged, going in for a double-leg. Brett’s forearms dug into his shoulders as he executed a form-perfect sprawl. Suddenly, one of Brett’s arms was hooked over Seth’s and the other around his neck. Brett rotated, his hips cutting Seth’s center of gravity right out from under him and flipping him in high arc through the air. They landed, and Brett had him in a steel-tight pin. Seth tried to buck, but the headlock combined with ninety-percent of Brett’s weight going directly into his sternum kept him anchored.

Brett stared down at him. “I’m not going to hurt you, Seth. I’m here to protect you.” His voice had changed again, and Seth heard under the cavalierness, under the commander’s voice, a softer tone. The tone of someone who genuinely wanted to protect people, and took his duty to do so seriously. That tone abated Seth’s anger just a little bit. “You have to understand. I’ve been at this longer. A lot longer. When I say knowing something could put you in danger, I mean it.”

Seth tried one more time to turn his hips and dig a heel into the ground to shrimp out of Brett’s pin, but Brett stuffed the attempt with only the slightest shift of weight. “You’re strong, kid.” Brett’s hazel eyes had no trace of anger in them. “But you need to learn to chill.”

Seth gritted his teeth. The void raged inside him, asking for blood, asking for violence. But that wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want to be the person who had battered Jayson to a bloody pulp. He didn’t want to be the person who had beaten the leader of the shamans senseless and then kept beating him post-unconsciousness. But he did. He hungered for that, and he felt ripped apart inside. He did know he didn’t want to be the person who maimed an ally over an argument. Seth forced his body to relax. “I’m good.”

“We good?”

“Yeah,” said Seth. “But don’t fucking slap me again.”

Brett eased off the pin, standing up and offering Seth his hand. Seth took it and Brett hauled him to his feet. “Head clear?”

Seth nodded.

“Let’s go meet with some bears.” Brett slapped him on the back and walked towards the Chevy like nothing had ever happened.